Japanese Paleolithic

Japanese Paleolithic period
35,000 BCE  14,000 BCE
Japan at the Last Glacial Maximum in the Late Pleistocene about 20,000 years ago
Location Japan
Chronology
Jōmon period

The Japanese Paleolithic period (旧石器時代, kyūsekki jidai) is the period of human inhabitation in Japan predating the development of pottery, generally before 10,000 BC. The starting dates commonly given to this period are from around 40,000 BC, with recent authors suggesting that there is good evidence for habitation from c. 36,000 BC onwards. The period extended to the beginning of the Mesolithic Jōmon period, or around 14,000 BC.